I had this idea on board retrieval, whether it's a good idea or not is yet to be seen, and so I put it out there for scrutiny.
The current solutions that I know of are:
1.) Board leashes / Reel Leash
2.) Inflatable GoJoe
So board leashes are dangerous as they have the potential to create tension in the line and snapping the board back in your general direction, more specifically your face neck and head. GoJoe is a more suitable option but you look like a complete twonk and it's not always convenient to have an inflatable cushion between your legs.
So why not take the best of both and combine it into one product?
My idea was to set up a reel leash to a release mechanism so when the line reaches enough tension it pulls the pin to a gas canister which inflates a visible balloon making it easier to find your board after a big stack, I thought if the leash line was long enough or the tension in the line wasn't high enough to rip the board from the water then the line would stay connected and you could pull the board back in, if the crash was big enough or the line came under too much tension then the pin would be pulled and the balloon would inflate allowing you time to recover and locate your board which would hopefully be easier to find.
I had a crack at sketching up how I thought it would work
where do you mount this contraption??
I've been kiting for 12 years and never lost a board.
(touch wood)
looks ok tho.
kind of like a avalanche ABS bag
Yeah that would work in theory but I see many disadvantages. For example, leash catching and triggering, parts corroding, mechanism being a distraction, balloon bursting, canister blowing up in car due to the heat, etc.
Maybe ok for cruising around but I wouldn't have anything like that attached to my board when unhooking, looping, boosting big or smashing surf. Leaving this product useful for me never.
Board recovery is simple, you drift downwind until you sort your kite out, your board is always directly up wind of you, so you body drag in an even zig zag motion about 100m each direction and you will always eventually find it, just as quick as if it had a balloon on it.
Or, by far the best solution to said problem, just get boots and never have to body drag or lose your board again.
The intention is that it would be mounted near the center handle and shouldnt be any bigger than 10cm X 5cm X 3cm deep, I thought using the Nitrous Oxide whiped cream bottles would be a good bet as the canisters as they are manufactured to certain AS/isi standards to withstand abuse and to be safe for the general public's use, they are also about a dollar a bottle so relatively inexpensive too.
I guess the target market would be newbies who are prone to losing their boards. Also It may be worth stating that I have no intention of creating said device, I put the " " in lazy it was just an idea I had which I thought was pretty good and thought I would put it out there perhaps someone might like it or make it happen.
Or people could spend more time learning to board recover in lesson 2.. then spend a few weeks perfecting it before coming back for lesson 3.
It amazes me how many people have dramas board recovering/body dragging effectively and all I can put it down to is that they are being sold the dream of up and riding too quick by their instructor. I'm a believer of lesson 1, lesson 2, go away for 3-4 weeks and practice body drag, board recovery,land/launch, self rescue, and set up and then do lesson 3 once you have kitecontrol and a good solid base of skills from lesson 1 and 2. This way you will know what to do when you lose your board.
As for your idea... You will need a big gas cylinder. About the size of a scuba tank should do it.
The colours used on some new boards dont help.
White boards are very hard to see lying upside down with sun reflection.
Some fluro paint would be better and safer than a leash.
good idea but that would mean you would have to refill the canister everytime you loose your board? When I was starting off I had to bodydrag for my board every second water start and/or fall.
overall i think it's well thought through though! but as mentioned before corrosion might be an issue..?
silly idea, my board comes off every few minutes when I kite becuase of I dont just mow the grass
I have another Idea... A taller hand pump with more capacity.... So you are not bending over so much... I've never lost a board either...
a silly idea with potentially some merit.
not any use for a beginner crashing every 10 seconds. But might be a worthwhile safety device in extreme locations.
I'd say make a remote activated unit that self activates when the board is more than 100m away from the pilot/
So it works only the first time you lose your board?
Scenario 1:
If you have to "reset it" when do you think a beginner would be able to do so?
Lose board, find it thanks to balloon, ride back to shore, self land, reset balloon. self launch, go back out?
Sorry to say. But anyone who can self land/launch has no need for a balloon marker.
Keep in mind you may lose your board 100 times in a session
I have an idea for a patent too, still to do with kiting but in a different area.
Just maybe Seabreeze could run a competition for inventions and the prize helpig out with the patent cost and marketing etc.
I think there could be a lot of sharks with "lasers" stuck to their heads...lol
do the "skkiing in powder trick" and stick 3m of fluro ribbon up your leg.
when you loose your board theres a trail of coloured ribbon dragging out the back.
easy to see and easy grab!
Why? Body dragging should do the trick.
Nice concept but your device looks a bit last century technology to me.
Just put a GPS tracker on the board, you can get them cheep these days and are half the size of an iPhone. You will find your board at night and even when it's out of sight.
Go Joe Pro mk2.....I can hear the paperwork already at the Trademark Attourneys office...They've sold outa Go pros for Christmas I hear.
^^^ i thought i saw you with Go Joe's strapped to each side of your a$$ cheeks
the other day ....... then i was informed by other beach users "No thats all Stabber" 
I had a similar idea except have a like carbon tent pole which was hinged and sprung( a spring like the one pushbike stands have ) off a handel bolt with a flag on it and a small size foam ball on it (tennis size). The pole would lay flat on board with your feet in board toes ,foot over it to hold it down then when you fall off and the board goes up side down the pole would spring up hence the float would turn board over and the flag would act like a little sail and push board back to you and you could easly see it .
I was really going to make this and paten it then i just learnt to body drag dont need it know but some one might want to build it .
my idea to help people that can't body drag up wind was a dvd that loops over and over again and keeps noobs off the water.
